MARSHALL, MN –
Dakota Finley and
Calvin James posted three hits each for the University of Mary baseball team but defensive miscues cost the Marauders in a 6-5 extra inning loss at Southwest Minnesota State University.
A back-and-forth contest, the Mustangs matched the Marauders scoring exactly through the first nine innings.
UMary opened the scoring in the first inning when Finley singled home
Derek Shoen.
Quentin Evers followed with a sacrifice fly to score James for a 2-0 Marauders lead. The Mustangs responded immediately with two runs in the bottom of the first.
Neither team scored again until the 6
th inning when Shoen blasted a 3-run home run to center field, scoring
Tyrus Barclay and
Braxton Inniss for a 5-2 UMary lead. And once again SMSU responded in kind, scoring three times in the bottom of the inning to pull even at 5-5.
The Marauders best chance to regain the lead came in the 8
th inning when
Braeton Wixo led off with a double but he was eventually stranded on third.
The Mustangs walked off with a win in the tenth inning. Brodie Smith walked to open the inning and took second on a misplayed ground ball up the middle before advancing to third on an errant throw attempting to retire the batter racing to first. The throw ended up in the Marauders dugout and, after a conversation amongst the umpires, Smith was awarded one more base for a ball going out of play and was sent home to score the winning run.
The Marauders, who won the first two games of the series with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, are 17-17 overall and 14-13 in the Northern Sun. UMary is currently 7
th in the NSIC entering the final week of play with five games remaining. The top eight teams qualify for the league's postseason tournament. Right behind the Marauders are the University of Sioux Falls and Northern State University, both 14-16 in the NSIC. SMSU is 12-22 and 10-21.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Derek Shoen | 2x5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
- Cal James | 3x4, 1 R, 2 BB
- Dakota Finley | 3x5, RBI
- Quentin Evers | 1x3, 2B, SR, 1 RBI,
- Braeton Wixo | 2x4, 2B
- Ty Jones | 4.2 IP, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
- Daniel Turner | 3.1 IP, 1 R, 1 BB, 3K
- Andrew Brooks | 1.0 IP, 0 ER, 2K
- SMSU Brodie Smith | 2x4, 3 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB
STAT OF THE GAME
Cal James had a huge series with eight hits in the last two games and nine in the 3-game set. For the weekend the Marauders 3
rd baseman was 9-for-14 with a double, three home runs, six runs scored and seven RBIs.
ON DECK
The Marauders host St. Cloud State on Wednesday, May 5. First pitch is 1:30 pm. UMary closes out the regular season with three games against Northern State University on Friday and Saturday, May 7-8.
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